Financing Farm Futures

27 April 2026 | 1.00pm

Rebalancing risk and ambition

At the third RED Talk in our Business Resilience Series, we took a clear, practical look at how food and farming businesses can access finance, and how best to use it to strengthen long-term performance. The session exploring why borrowing can be a sensible and strategic choice, before walking through the main routes to securing finance, what lenders look for and how to secure preferential rates.

You’ll leave with clear, practical insights you can apply straight away – making this a valuable use of time for anyone navigating funding and investment in the food and farming sector.

The Speakers

Louise Manning

Managing Director, LJM Associates

Louise is an academic, writer, communicator, and educator. She works with governments, public and private organisations and is passionate about food and farming and supporting communities all around the world and helping them to thrive. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, written and edited multiple books, upported education programmes for the sector and is a frequent guest on webinars, podcasts and conference platforms.

Louise and her husband farm in Herefordshire.

Iain Hawthorn

Managing Director, Aravis

A highly experienced and successful former senior agricultural banker, gained through strong expertise in finance for farming through his career at HSBC Agriculture Banking and Oxbury Plc.

Iain supports the agriculture sector in providing professional advisory and support service to a wide range of businesses across the food supply chain. Iain supports business owners in the Agriculture, Food Manufacturing and Production, Glasshouses, Vertical Farming, Agri-Food, Vineyards, Horticulture and Advanced Protected Horticulture sectors

Martin Williams

Farmer

Martin Farms 800 ha arable crops on the River Wye at Fownhope and is Joint Chairman of the Farm Herefordshire partnership of twelve organisations. As an AHDB Monitor Farm for Herefordshire for 3 years, he’s helped to develop a strong knowledge transfer network between arable farms in the county. Martin has put a huge amount of time into highlighting the phosphate issue in the Wye and is very passionate about finding solutions to reduce the agricultural contributions. He has delivered several events focusing on the challenges faced by farmers and has hosted a ministerial visit for Rebecca Pow raising the issue yet further up the national political agenda.

Mark Lumsdon-Taylor

Global Executive Lead for Development and Sustainability, MHA Baker Tilly

Mark is a Chartered Accountant and corporate financier with a special interest in farming and the onward food value chain; during his career he has advised some of the biggest names in agrifood and niche start ups as well as advocated for the sector in Parliament. He established Rural Policy Group in 2019 after nearly two decades in the rural economy working with both public and private sector businesses. In recognition of his commitment to the sector and deep knowledge, Mark was elected onto the ICAEW Farming and Rural Business Committee.

Listen to the Financing Farm Futures Podcast

More RED Talks in the Farm Business Resilience Series

Smart Financial Strategy

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Resetting Farm Resilience

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